PSA: Netflix to Expand Streaming Service to Canada

I stream so many movies via Netflix' Watch Instantly platform these days that I often forget I'm actually allowed to rent physical movies-by-mail through the service. Not to become too much of a spokesman for the company, but paying $8.99 to access an always-expanding library of streaming titles is a complete no brainer for a movie geek like me. The fact that I can also receive discs in the mail has become an added bonus, really. Which is funny, because when Netflix Watch Instantly was first introduced, it was the novelty portion of the subscription. Perhaps On Demand content delivery is replacing physical media faster than I imagined it would...but I digress...

No inauguration date has been set yet, but starting this fall Netflix is going international and have selected Canada as their first non-US marketplace! Okay, so it's not exactly expanding across oceans, but it's a start. Netflix won't actually be branching the physical, movies-by-mail side of their business up North initially; this is purely a Netflix Watch Instantly expansion. That means that the Canadian pricing plans should be even cheaper than what us Yanks pay each month, though the company has not yet announced what that price will be.

Shacknews also reached out to Netflix to confirm whether or not this expansion included the ability to stream titles to the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. The movie delivery moguls were less than committal in their answer, but they did say, "it's fair to assume that several popular, brand name devices will be capable of streaming from Netflix to TVs at launch -- in addition to the ability to watch instantly on computers -- and that we'll add to the family of devices over time."

I don't even live in Canada and I think this is fantastic news. We'll keep you updated on more details regarding the Canadian Netflix expansion, but in the mean time those in the Great White North should go ahead and bookmark their new favorite website: Netflix.ca.